


Fallen to Ashes (Temporarily Discontinued)

by infernobats



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Burnish (Promare), Knight Galo, M/M, Mad Burnish (Promare), character death uh oh, galolio, kingdom au, late awakening, prince lio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26886043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infernobats/pseuds/infernobats
Summary: Galo Thymos is a Knight who was transferred to the kingdom of Promepolis to protect the Prince, Lio Fotia, after the assassination of the Queen.There was just one thing, Lio hated the idea of someone trying to protect him almost as much as he hated being a part of the royal family. It was rare he stayed in the castle for more than a day, fighting with everyone that got in his way.Galo was determined to be the first person Lio would let protect him, but he had yet to meet him.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	1. First Day

_ “Why are you trying to leave?”  _

_ “Why would I want to stay? This place- It was never my home, I return each night so I don’t worry my father, but this will never be my home.”  _

Their first interaction left Galo breathless, his first day in the castle and the knight who was selected to show him around decided to introduce him to the prince. 

“That was the prince?” Galo was curious about who he was, beyond the label of ‘Prince’. 

“Unfortunately it is. He doesn’t know how good he has it here, Lio Fotia is one spoiled son of a bitch. Each day he tends to sneak out of the castle and we can’t stop it, after his mother died it felt like he tried to escape more and more.” The man let out a breath, pushing up his glasses.

“Yeah I get that but, Remi isn’t there some part of you that thinks he wants to leave for a reason? Just because he’s a prince doesn’t mean he’s happy here.” Remi shrugged, ignoring Galo’s attempt to justify Lio.

“You don’t know him, you just started here, you’re here to protect him, since the King fell ill. We don’t know if something will happen to him too and if something does, better to give the job to the new guy-” He paused. “-No offense, but none of us exactly hold a liking for the Prince, and you seem  _ interested  _ to say the least.” Galo nodded.

“I don’t mind, before being transferred here from Promatech the job I worked was really uneventful, I prefer to be faced with a challenge.” They reached the headquarters, Remi opening the door, letting Galo catch it behind him.

“With the Prince, you might’ve gotten what you wished for.” He laughed and sat down at the table, tapping the chair next to him, Galo taking the seat.

“Ignis and Vulcan are the head of knights, you’ll want to avoid Vulcan, Ignis is the combat guard and Vulcan is the King’s guard-”

“What happened to the queen's guard?” Remi sighed, putting his hand up to Galo.

“I was getting there, the Queen’s guard was an imposter, taking a sum of money and murdering her. He was caught and murdered, unable to form an actual alibi for that afternoon. The only reason we were able to recruit you is because you have been protecting Promatech for three years, ever since you were eighteen.” Galo nodded, that comment boosting his ego just a tad, although moments before he mentioned that bad things never occurred there. 

“Don’t feel too honored, you were the last resort.” His grin dropped, nodding reluctantly. 

“I start tomorrow, right?” 

“Bright and early you’ll have to go speak to Kray, the King's advisor, for the first few days he will give you a list of tasks the Prince is expected to complete within the day, he will give up hope after you fail a few times. But with the ball being planned and the Prince having to make the big choices, it’s important you at least pretend to try before you fail.” Galo scoffed, shaking his head.

“I don’t need to pretend! I can do it, trust me, I have a feeling the prince and I will get along really well!” 

“Premature Optimism. Good luck tomorrow Galo.” Remi patted him on the shoulder and got up, letting out a small laugh. 

Galo woke up the next day, an hour before he was supposed to meet the King’s advisor. He was waiting to hear the bells of the castle resound throughout the halls. The sound would let him know it was eight in the morning, the time he was told to meet Kray. As if almost on cue, the bell rang, four times, echoing through the halls for a moment. He stood up, grabbing his sword and walking out of his room, every few steps his sword bumped against his leg, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

He managed to remember Remi’s directions and get to the King’s chambers, a large man standing outside the door. 

“Who are you?” He seemed to growl out his words, catching Galo off guard for a moment.

“Galo Thymos, I was told to come here and speak to Kray.” The man walked into the room, slamming the door on Galo without saying another word. The door opened once again and a different man stepped out, having to dip his head down to get through the door, Galo having to look up to speak to him. 

“You’re Galo I assume?” His voice boomed through the halls.

“Yes sir.” Galo held his hand out.

“Here, your tasks for today, by noon, the Prince needs to be awake and have eaten in order to keep up with the schedule for today. Knowing him, he will make that difficult for you to do.” Kray handed him a list that seemed simple enough, easy to accomplish within an hour or two for him. 

“Let the Prince go wherever he wants as long as it is within the castle walls, if you even can, try to get the Prince to do the first task at least, the King wants to have the party happen before he dies.” Galo nodded, putting the list in his pocket, determined to complete it all.

“At ten tonight, the Prince should be back in his room for the night, if there is something stopping that, you must inform me before doing whatever may stop you from having him in his room at that time. But just in simplicity Galo-” Kray looked down at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Keep him safe, he is the one thing keeping the King strong right now.” Galo nodded. 

“Yes sir.” Galo realized the only words he had said to him were ‘Yes sir’ but what other words could he say, he was truly at a loss of words. At his last job, he was simply just on watch on the outside of the castle never stepping foot near royalty. Galo was unsure how he was properly qualified for this, nervous to let everyone down but people seemed to have hope in him. 

“Good luck today Galo.” He felt like Kray sending him off was like a father sending his son off to school, just hoping for the best. At this point, so was Galo.

He reached the wing on the other side of the castle where the Prince’s room was, stopping as he reached the door. He rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment, never feeling anxious like this until now. His fist hovered over the door before knocking three times, a strange pattern for knocking. There was no response.  _ Shit.  _

“Did I go to the wrong door?” Looking down the hall there were no other rooms that had doors that matched Remi’s description. The door was the same color as the rest, a sharp object had been used to carve small designs into the wood by the Prince.

About an hour passed by Galo just pacing this part of the hall, it was now around nine fifteen. He considered going to ask someone what to do but he was told not to go in unless he was awake. Galo was surprised the bell didn’t wake him up, or it did and he just wasn’t responding. With that thought in mind, he knocked again. The door opened, a boy with hair down to his chin stood in front of him rubbing his eyes.

“You’re that guy from yesterday right? The hell are you doing here?”  _ Shit, he’s really pretty.  _ Galo let out an awkward laugh.

“I’m Galo, your protective detail until further notice, I figured someone would’ve told you.” He felt his heart begin to race.

“They might've but it didn't bother me enough to remember- or care.”  _ Pretty or not, his attitude is utter shit. _

“Do you want to go to the dining room for your breakfast? Then we can begin your tasks for the day.” Lio simply just looked at him with a blank expression for a moment before slamming the door in his face. 

“Ah shit.” He ran a hand through his spiky hair, letting out a breath, trying to figure out what to do. A few minutes passed and the door opened, Lio standing in a shirt with a poofy collar and leather pants. 

“I could already tell you wouldn’t shut up if I refused to do this shit, I don't feel like dealing with you nagging me today.” Lio walked past him, he was a bit taller than before, Galo noticing he had put on boots. He followed Lio like a loyal dog, they reached the dining room, Lio walking into the kitchen. 

“Aren’t you gonna sit down and wait for your food?” Lio looked at him in annoyance, rolling his eyes and grabbing a plate from the cabinet. 

“We don’t have chefs if there isn’t a party. We pay them daily but they only work during parties, otherwise, there isn’t a need, it’s a waste of time for someone else to do what I can. You expect the prince to be absolute shit at everything?” He snapped, letting out a deep breath. 

“Look don’t assume bullshit about me, everyone thinks I’m some spoiled monster. I just don’t get why only we can be wealthy, I hate being here and being looked up to. It’s obnoxious-” Lio let out a sigh. “Yeah I got it. But you can’t expect to be good at everything, it’s okay to get help from others, if just with one thing.” Galo didn’t know Lio, not knowing what annoyed him and what didn’t, this was a good way to find out.

“I hate getting help from people. I don’t need their help. I’ll be okay on my own.” Lio was very short with Galo in this moment, he chose this time to back off, letting Lio cool off. 

It was about ten minutes after they went into the kitchen and Lio sat down with his food, a second plate in hand, setting it in front of Galo. 

“You look fucking ravenous. It would suck if you died on the first day.”  _ on the first day?  _ Galo thanked him. Lio had much less food than Galo, just having half a slice of bread with some of the fruit that was stored in the kitchen. When he went into the pantry to grab bread he left three small loaves on the counter after putting the bag away. Galo didn’t question it, thinking it was just for later. Lio finished eating quickly, grabbing one of the bags roughly sewn together that was stored under the counter, putting the bread in it. 

“It still isn’t late so we can do whatever really until we need to meet Kray-” Lio’s expression went from neutral to just blatantly annoyed the moment he mentioned Kray or anything of Lio being a prince.

“I don’t make fucking schedules to live my life alright? I don’t know what I wanna do when I figure it out, I'll be sure to let you know boss.” Lio walked out of the room, Galo trailing behind him, catching up to walk his pace within a few moments. 

Lio paused at a turn in the castle, considering the places he could go before turning, opening a door and walking down the stairs.

“Jeez are you taking me to the dungeon?” He joked, Galo had only been shown the bare minimum of the castle, most things still confused him. 

“Maybe if you keep pissing me off.” Lio spoke with a straight face, opening a door that led them outside, still within the walls, it seemed to be a garden, but it was hidden, cut off from the other parts of the castle. 

“Is this like a secret garden?” Galo was referencing a book he read when he was young, not remembering much of it but there was a garden, seemingly reminiscent of this one. 

“I guess? It’s just a garden. I come here to relax but I guess with you here I won’t be able to.” Galo laughed and walked around, looking at all the plants. Lio sat on a stone bench next to a flower he was examining.

“Do you have a specific favorite flower?” Galo tried to make conversation with him, but it seemed to just piss him off. 

“No they’re just plants, It’s a nice change from bland colors inside.” Lio was very short with Galo, rarely giving him more than a sentence to go off of. Galo turned his head to see Lio holding a flower he took off of one of the plants. He noticed Galo and dropped the flower, standing up. 

“I’ll be right back.” He walked away, Galo thoughtlessly trusting him. Five minutes passed and Galo began to doubt he would actually be back. He walked over to where Lio was sitting, kneeling down and picking up the flower he dropped, putting it in his pocket. 

It was roughly eleven now, Lio had been gone for almost thirty minutes, the door opened and Lio walked out. 

“Where’d you go? You were gone for awhile.”

“Sorry didn’t know I had to give you updates minute by minute jeez.” Lio rolled his eyes, sitting back down on the bench.

“If anyone asks- I was here the whole time.” Lio kicked the bag under the bench. Galo noticing, finding an opportunity. 

“On one condition.” Lio laughed, Looking up at him. “When did you come into a position to make deals?” 

“Since you’re obviously taking those rations to someone, somewhere on the days you sneak out. I can stop all of that with one word.” To be honest, Galo was throwing out theories, hoping it would stick. Lio’s neutral expression dropped, his eyebrows arching downwards.

“You are in no place to threaten me with anything. You want to be the one to cause me to go missing for good?” He shook his head.

“No but you don’t want to cause whoever you’re taking those supplies to go hungry?” He brushed his hair back, letting out a breath, finding no purpose arguing with someone so stubborn.

“Go on.” 

“You have to do all this shit Kray expects of you.” His already annoyed expression morphing to be plain ticked off.

“If you do it early in the day you can get it done and do whatever the hell you want for the rest of the day.” Lio hesitantly nodded.

“Is that it?” 

“Yeah. Is that okay?” 

“Not like you’re giving me much of a choice.” Galo held out his hand, Lio grabbing it.

“This is so fucking lame.” Galo just then noticed Lio wore gloves, unsure why, but after making a deal with him he didn’t exactly want to test him. 

It was noon, and for the first time in months, Lio was sitting in the Grand Foyer willing to do what Kray asked of him. Kray was a few minutes late, Lio sitting in a chair facing away from the entrance, Galo standing close by.

“So you couldn’t cage the Prince?” Kray laughed out, his laugh fading as Lio stood up.

“You do a great job trying and failing at that already, Kray.” Lio looked at the doorway and the temptation to leave was strong but he knew he couldn’t break the deal he made with Galo.

“What did you want me here for.” 

“You need to establish a date for the ball, and admit permission to the princesses to come.” 

“My father is dead set on having this isn’t he?”

“You know he is. I suggest you set it soon, just to be safe, with his condition, the sooner the better.” 

“I got it I got it. How long would it take for all the guests to arrive?” Lio looked at the calendar Kray presented him.

“The max would take three days, it would take at least five days to fully set everything up and clean the castle and prepare food.” 

“Then let’s have it in nine days, with my father’s condition, truly I have no idea how long he will survive if he continues to get sicker.” Lio handed him the calendar, Kray handing him a list of names, Lio rolling his eyes.

“The hell am I supposed to be doing with this list?” Lio dropped his arms to his side, his annoyance with Kray already at its limit.

“Language.”

“I said hell. Not like I said fuck.” Galo swore he saw Lio smile as Kray’s anger level rose. “Make sure there aren’t any names we missed, we can’t let anyone in who isn’t on the list. Lio sat down, grabbing the pen he was handed sloppily scribbling some names at the bottom, crossing a few off around the list. He barely took more than a minute to do that, his penmanship difficult to read, but the names on the bottom could be made out if you tried hard enough. 

‘ _ Meis, Guiera, Thyma’  _

“Who are the names on the bottom?” 

“People who used to work in the castle, they quit.” Lio fiddled with his fingers on his sleeve, Galo could tell he was lying. 

“Okay. Go to your Father’s room, you haven’t spoken to him in a few days, It’s very irresponsible.” Lio walked out of the room without saying another word, once they were out of earshot he let out a groan.

“Sorry you have to work with him god that must be awful.” Lio pretended to gag.

“It’s not! He is really a great person to look up to, I just met him recently but-” He stopped when he realize Lio wasn't interesting in a positive opinion on Kray. 

“Listen I do not want to hear you gush about how  _ great of a person  _ Kray is. He’s not. Don’t believe his bullshit front he puts up. It’s just a lie.” Lio walked faster, making it to the door.

“This room seems small to be considered the king's room.” Galo spoke out loud, now noticing how out of character the room is for a king.

“After my mom died he moved rooms and then got sick, he doesn’t have the strength to leave this room most days and it’s closer to the medbay if there’s an emergency.” Lio spoke before putting his hand on the door. 

“Just wait out here. I’ll be back.” Galo nodded, a few moments later, the man who was standing outside the king's quarters earlier walked out of the room. Galo assumed it was Vulcan, not seeming like a talkative person, Galo chose to stay quiet.

Galo was unaware how much time had passed, an hour, maybe two, Lio hadn’t come out of the room yet. Once again he turned his head to the door, Kray walking down the hall and facing the door.

“Is Lio still in there?” He nodded, Kray walking in without knocking, closing the door, his voice overpowering Lio’s soft but angry voice. Lio opened the door, remaining composed and calm, walking off, Galo caught up, trying to find a way to ask if he was okay. He stopped himself, barely knowing Lio he didn’t want to overstep. Lio got back to his room, stopping at the door.

“Look I know we made a deal” His voice was soft, no anger or aggression like normal, he was genuine in this moment.

“I can’t do anything more today. I’ll do everything tomorrow but not today” Galo didn’t respond before Lio shut the door. Galo let out a breath, having awhile before his shift was off, he would check in on Lio in a few hours.

Lio let his body fall against the door as he closed it, if he could cry, in this moment especially, he would.

_ None of this was real, right?  _

_ His father, dying, sick, forgetting everyone, even him.  _

There was a reason he never went to see his father. They would talk for hours, but it was rare he ever acknowledged Lio as his son. Always telling stories of ‘his wife and his son’. This time, Lio had the guts to tell his father.

_ “Your wife and your son. I’m your son, dad.” all he did was smile and laugh. _

_ “My son was never as kind as you.”  _ his father was right, Lio was never truly himself or kind to him or his mother, he held resentment towards them both when he was young. More resentment held towards his father for what his mother did more than anything. 

Lio walked over to his balcony, watching the clock tower’s smaller hand tick to show an hour had passed. He had two hours to kill before the sun was going to set. He hoped to god he would be able to get away from the knight that had been watching over him. Before he had to leave, he laid down on his bed, closing his eyes, for at least a moment. He had gotten back to his room at five that morning, being woken up at nine, he was exhausted. Knowing his luck, he wouldn’t get back any earlier tonight either. 

Lio woke up, lifting his head, feeling that rocks were tied to his body, moving felt like so much work, but he couldn’t stay, he had to get to them. He stood up and looked at the time, he had slept for way too long, it was past ten, meaning Kray already came by to make sure he was in his room. 

He grabbed the bag that was under his bed, having dropped it off before he had to meet Kray and a large hooded jacket which he kept under his bed in case he went out at night. Lio had a strong feeling Galo was still outside his room, so he went to the balcony, kicking his legs over the rails, dropping down to the balcony below his, catching onto the ledge. He hadn’t done this kind of trick since his last guard, which it had been nearly a year and a half since then. 

Doing this was risky, but not getting to them was even riskier. He paused for a moment, pulling up the hood and walking over to the other side of the balcony. He saw the tallest tree from the garden, grabbing onto the branch, dropping to the ground. 

Galo stood outside the room, it was a bit past ten when he decided to check on Lio again, opening the door, pausing as he saw the room was empty. 

_ Shit.  _

_ Remi told me he would do this.  _

Knowing Lio had left, he also knew Lio would return. Galo had an idea, pulling the flower that Lio had left in the garden, placing it on his pillow, walking out of the room and shutting the door. 


	2. Bandages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio snuck out of the castle, most of the guards knew about it, but they never knew why or what he did.   
> Tonight like every other night, he planned to go to the same place,   
> with the same people. And Galo, like every other guard Lio has had  
> was ditched by him, unable to figure out where he had disappeared to.

As Galo left Lio’s room, he had just made it out of the castle walls, something exhilarating about leaving the burden of the castle. His soul burned faster and harder the further he got from, the chains keeping him there broke for just the night, finally feeling like he could breathe. The ties to his life distanced further and further as he made it away from the castle. He continued to run, nearly tripping over his feet, running faster than his body could keep up with. He wouldn’t slow down, especially at night, the guards on the outside of the castle keep a close eye for people around the walls. Lio had been doing this for nearly two years, he’d be damned if he let something stop him now. 

He reached the village, out of breath, Lio looked up, the lights of the town were so beautiful, it was lively and peaceful, even if people were struggling they were happy because they had each other. He was always curious what it would be like to live like this, he was miserable in the castle, forced to be isolated, he was never even told why. Before he started to sneak out, he never knew anyone his age or anyone who would treat him like a person. Until he met them. 

He kept his hood up and his head down, going down an alleyway and opening the door and entering the back entrance of an old bar. The same old smell of old liquor stung his nose as he walked into the building, broken glass crunching under his feet as he stepped on the stairs. Nothing had changed since last night, but the building had always been like this, abandoned, destroyed. 

Lio reached the top of the steps, old paintings torn in half, the canvas rotting on either side. The entire building was falling apart, but it was the safest place for them. He walked down the hall, the floor creaking, sometimes it felt like it dipped down below him as he stepped forward. The door opened, a boy with long dark hair, his fists clenched.

“Calm down Meis, It’s just me, sorry I couldn’t get here earlier.” He dropped his hand to his side, letting out a deep breath.

“I was getting worried you finally got caught.” 

“You expect that little of me? C’mon, It’s been two years.”

“It takes one bad night Lio.” As Meis said his name, the girl who was laying on the bed, lifted her head to face him.

“Hey Thyma keep your head down, just rest.” Guiera spoke, she hesitated before putting her head back on the pillow.

“I haven’t seen Lio in a few days, I’m always asleep when he comes, I missed him.” 

“Well hey, you won’t miss me in nine days, yeah?” Lio crouched down next to her as he spoke.

“You finally chose the date?” Guiera looked at him in disbelief, a smile forming on his face. 

“I finally did, Thyma if you’re up for it, in a few days do you want to go to the tailor and get a dress?” She turned to him and shook her head.

“I don’t have any money.” 

“I’ll pay, it’s one night but you bet your ass you will look breathtaking.” Lio spoke with a smile, his face lighting up as he spoke to her. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to ask anything much of you.” She spoke with glossy eyes, even the idea of someone caring about her enough to buy her a dress brought her to tears. Her whole life everyone overlooked her because of her sickness, but Lio didn’t care about her sickness, just who she was. 

“You aren’t asking me for anything, I’m offering.”

“Hey Princey what about us.” Guiera joked, punching Lio’s arm. He let out a sigh, only these three could joke with him like that, even though it still got under his skin. 

“Just come over a few hours before the party and try one of my suits, god knows my mom bought way too many in an attempt to make me happy.” Lio spoke with spite in his voice. Meis and Guiera high fived, smiles on both of their faces. 

“I almost forgot.” Lio grabbed the bag he brought, opening it, rustling around for the bread, putting it down, looking at what remained in the bag

“How were you able to grab all of this? This is insane Lio.” Thyma looked over to try to see what they were talking about, unable to get a good enough look. Lio began pulling out different kinds of medicine.

“I grabbed the medicine I’ve seen in my Father’s room, mainly just painkillers and things for his health when he can’t eat to help with his nutrition, we should save it for when it gets really bad, we need to make sure we ration this until they find out it’s gone, then they’ll get more.” Meis and Guiera seemed breathless.

“Lio this could put your Father’s life in danger, you realize that.”

“If he was still who he used to be, he would’ve done this, Kray would disagree, but my father would put his life on the line for someone else no matter what.” Lio put the medicine by Thyma’s bed. He pulled out bandages and medical wrap, putting it down.

“I brought enough medical wrap to last a few days at least-” Lio let out a breath as he hit the bottom of the bag. “-Sorry I couldn’t bring more, I didn’t have much time, it was cutting it close already but I wanted to keep my promise.” Guiera looked at him, speechless, tears rolling down his cheeks, pulling him into a hug.

“Thank you Lio, thank you so much.” Lio struggled to hug him back, but knowing it was what was something a friend would do. His mother never hugged him, just telling him she would hug him when he did what he was supposed to. She died having never hugged him, his father never correcting her actions. 

“You guys are the closest thing to family I have and will ever have, I want to do what I can.” Guiera pulled away, wiping his tears on his sleeve. Lio stood up, standing by Thyma.

“Do you want to hear about my day?” When he said this, it meant it was time for her to change her bandages. He always talked about his day to distract her, if at all possible, make it less painful. To Thyma, it was hard to even have the bandages on her arms, but having them taken off and her skin exposed hurt even more. 

“Yeah, I do.” Meis stood up, helping pick her up, leaning her back against the wall, handing Lio the bandages. 

“Can you get me a cloth and some water? I wanna try to clean the wounds a bit.” Gueira got up, walking out of the room for a minute, returning with the cloth and a small cup of water.

“Thyma, you ready?” Lio felt his chest cramp, he hated doing this but Guiera and Meis had nothing to tell her about, being by her all day, this was the one thing that could distract her. Lio took off his gloves, only doing this around them. Thyma put her hand in his, he felt around to find the crease of the bandages and established a firm grip on the fabric.

“A new knight showed up, he’s my new security detail until ‘further notice’, he never stops talking, He knows about me sneaking out, I have a feeling Remi had told him, along with some trash about how spoiled I am and-” He paused for a minute, seeing Thyma biting her lip, clenching the blanket with her other hand, trying to deal with the pain.

“You can keep going.” Lio nodded, continuing with the story.

“He’s pushing me to do everything Kray expects of me, which is why I set the date for the dance and He had more to have me do but, I had to talk to my father so I just couldn’t deal with anything else.” Meis and Guiera watched as he took the cloth, so carefully dabbing it on her arm, Lio’s grip on Thyma’s hand never wavered. Lio noticed as the cloth felt like it picked up some of her skin as he pressed it against her arm, her whole body slowly deteriorating. It had been like this since they met, but getting worse and worse over time. 

“So what’s this guy like?” Guiera asked, pushing him to talk more, Lio focused on cleaning Thyma’s arm. 

“Right, he’s like so much taller than me? It feels like a full foot which I  _ hate  _ and he keeps saying shit about how he respects Kray, like god dude we get it let’s move on. I don’t see myself being able to put up with his bullshit much longer, like he won’t shut up.” 

“I mean he doesn’t sound that terrible? You just have a hard time trusting people who work under the kingdom’s rule.” Meis spoke out bluntly.

“There is no issue with that, everyone in that castle thinks they know who I am and they don’t, they know nothing about me or who I truly am.” Lio felt his anger grow, careful that he wasn’t hurting Thyma as he put the cloth down. He let her hand go for a moment, grabbing the fresh bandages, placing it on her skin, slowly wrapping it around her arm.

“I just don’t get why I need a security detail from some stupid guy with ridiculous hair. Like it’s literal spikes just growing out of his head.” He breathed out, a small smile on his face as he complained. 

“He doesn’t seem half bad.” Thyma breathed out, her grip on the blanket tightening as Lio finished. 

“First arm done, see? Are you okay?” Lio reestablished his grip on her hand, rubbing small circles on her palm. 

“We can take a few minutes so you can breathe.” She shook her head. “No, do it now, finish now, I don’t wanna have to stop and then continue, just keep going.” He nodded, grabbing the new bandages and putting them next to his leg. 

“Continue with the story.” Thyma spoke as he got a grip on the crease.

“Alright.” He smiled at her, reassuring her that things would be okay, which not even he was sure about.

“I was woken up really early and he continually talked to me about things and tried to start conversations, like I understand the want to get to know someone but overkill right?” 

“I think he likes youuuu.” Guiera said with a smile, teasing Lio.

“You don’t have to come to the dance. The only reason I’m continuing with the planning is because you guys want to go, I hate these things but they have really good food.” Thyma smiled as he spoke about the dance. Lio grabbed the bandages, finishing with cleaning her arm as he spoke.

“What kind of dress do you want?” Lio spoke out, not looking up, focusing on her arm.

“Who, me?” Meis put a hand to his mouth as he spoke. 

“No? I don’t recall you wanting to wear a dress.” Lio spoke with a small shake of his head, a smile on his face, his hair covering his expression from view of them.

“I think-” She spoke slowly, trying not to push herself. “Maybe something pink or something to match your guys’ suits? I haven’t had nice dresses since I was a little girl, I just want something long sleeve to hide my bandages.” Lio nodded, taking note, considering going into his mother's room to find something expensive and fancy she could wear, he wanted her to be happy at the dance, for one night not be brought down by her sickness. 

“Okay that sounds good, whatever you want, we can do.” Lio cut the bandage as he reached her elbow.  _ Whatever you want.  _ That was more true than anything, he would trade his life for these three, Lio would do whatever he could to help them, no matter the consequences for him. 

Thyma let out a breath, her arms feeling better than they had in awhile. “We have to do your legs now, are you ready?” Lio questioned moving down to where they had been wrapped on her ankles.

“Yeah.” 

Lio had finished wrapping Thyma’s legs, taking almost an hour to do, along with multiple breaks so Thyma could calm down. Lio and Thyma were leaning against the wall, Thyma resting her head on Lio’s shoulder, having fallen asleep when he had finished. Lio was nearly asleep as Guiera walked in. 

“Hey” He spoke out, Lio opened his eyes and turned his head, making sure not to wake Thyma. 

“Is it time?” He questioned, not wanting to leave Thyma, knowing he had to or else it could put them in danger. Guiera nodded, turning towards the boarded up window, the moonlight slowly fading from their view. 

Lio slipped out from under Thyma, moving her down to be resting on the pillow, seeing she hadn’t been stirred as he moved relieved him. He put his gloves back on, pulling them up and adjusting them.

“I’ll walk with you.” Guiera stuck his hands in his pockets as Lio walked past him, Meis was at the door.

“See you tomorrow.” Meis turned and walked into Thyma’s room, keeping an eye on her while Guiera was gone. They walked out of the building, Guiera letting out a breath.

Guiera broke the silence between them. “I really don’t know how to put into words how much it means to me what you’re doing for Thyma.” 

“I care about all of you more than words can say, I do what I can when I get the chance.” Lio brushed off what he said, thinking what he was doing wasn’t enough, he had to do something more. 

“You know she’s getting worse right-” Lio didn’t stop walking as Guiera spoke, but his heart was racing. “-There’s no way she’s gonna be able to survive much longer.” He continued to pile this onto Lio, the feeling in his chest was suffocating. 

“At this point it feels like we are just prolonging her life to put her in more pain.” Lio stopped walking, Guiera turning back to look at him. 

“I know, but maybe, something will change, she could get better.” 

“Lio she’s my sister, you think I haven’t tried to convince myself the same thing? It’s rare she gets out of bed and if she does, she can barely walk.” 

“We-We can try, what the hell do you want us to do? Let her die? We haven’t had meds like these before, maybe the painkillers will help.” 

“And when they run out?” Guiera was debunking all of his arguments. 

“I will get more Guiera. I won’t let her die.” Lio bit back, his anger growing. 

“We can’t live off of the kingdom’s riches forever.” That scared Lio, he didn’t care about  _ himself  _ losing the kingdom's riches, but not being able to help Thyma, that was scaring him. 

“When my father dies, If I have to become the king, I will if it means I can get Thyma what she needs to survive.” Lio’s heart was racing.

“You don’t mean that- the castle- it makes you miserable.” He was right, it did.

“If it means saving Thyma and being able to protect you guys, I will do it.” He clutched his arm, looking up, the moonlight almost gone from the horizon. 

“Look, I have to go before it gets much later, I can’t risk being caught.” Lio said softly, walking past Guiera.

“Lio.” He paused and turned, being faced with a hug from Guiera. A small  _ ‘oh’  _ coming out of Lio’s mouth, expecting to leave with Guiera angry with him.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s a sore topic with you, I just, I’m angry that I can’t do more for her.” Lio didn’t hug him back. Lio never understood the reason people hug so often if he didn’t do something good, hesitant now more than ever because of their previous exchange. 

“It’s okay to be angry.”

He was angry too. 

Lio reached the castle, the sun not yet rising, at this point it almost hurt to keep his eyes open. He saw no sign of guards, reaching the garden, climbing the tree and grabbing onto the balcony. If his luck stood strong, the rope should still be under the plant pot, and it was. Lio threw it up, the side with the rock falling back down from around the railing, he tied it onto the railing, climbing up. Even through leather gloves, the rope seemed to burn his hands, it could just be his lack of sleep through the last few days that was slowly affecting him.

He reached his balcony, pulling the rope at an angle, slowly it came undone, he wasn’t sure the mechanics behind it, but it worked, so he didn’t complain. 

Lio put the rope under his bed, folded within the jacket he wore. He looked at his bed, seeing a semi familiar flower on his bed. He picked it up, realizing it was the one he looked at earlier that day in the garden with Galo. Part of him thought it was a nice gesture that Galo had noticed what he was looking at. Another part of him thought  _ why would this idiot grab the flower I dropped?  _ And that part always won the fights in his mind. Lio put the flower on the table by his bed.

He fell back on his mattress, not even bothering to change out of his clothes or take off his shoes, falling asleep right away. Knowing he only had a few hours before Galo would be at his door. Even with the idea that the flower was strange, his mind buzzed with questions, curious as to why Galo seems to keep trying to befriend.

Lio drifted to a deep sleep almost immediately, being interrupted a few hours in by a knock on his door.

Day two. 


	3. Just like a Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio managed to convince Galo to get permission from Kray to let them leave the castle for the afternoon, giving Thyma the day to find a dress for the ball.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi asf gang.. Sorry I havent posted in like awhile YIKES umm literally no reason other than I am just really into sdr2 right now! I'll probably end up writing some content from that source as well so poggers! umm yeah I'm gonna try to do one chapter a week, this chapter was like 1k words more than the normal chapters I post so B) that took a leetol longer once I sat down to write it :D

The library was two stories high, thousands of books inhabited in that room, more than any person could ask for. Galo and Lio sat at one of the tables in the library, two books by Lio’s side, he spaced out while having a third book open in front of him. Once again, Lio was exhausted, barely able to process the words on the page. 

“Lio? Earth to Lio.” His voice was getting on his nerves, but right now, anything would get on his nerves. 

“What?” his hand held up his head as he turned to face Galo.

“You’re supposed to finish two of these books today, you haven’t even turned the page.” 

“I’m a slow reader.” He snapped back, not wanting to read some bullshit book he wouldn’t even need in the future. These things were just busy work from Kray to get Lio out of his room.

“It’s been an hour.” Galo was trying, but Lio wasn’t putting any effort into this.

“I like taking my time, is there an issue with that?” The spiky-haired boy grabbed the book.

“I was working on that.” Lio pretended to be upset but after a few moments it didn’t bother him.

“I can read it to you, because then in theory, you would’ve heard all the information and-” He cut Galo off.

“Are you serious? That is absolutely ridiculous.” Lio hated people doing things for him, especially stupid things that didn’t even need to be done, like reading a book for him.

“It’ll be better than you doing it, at this point you can’t even sit up.” Galo said with a judgemental stare. 

“I can, I'm just choosing not to.” Lio brought his head up, leaning against the chair. 

Everything around him seemed to be moving so fast, but his mind was moving so slow.

“Alright. So go on, read.” Galo handed him the book and waited. Lio looked down at the book, the words seemed to blur from his perspective.

“Just give me the book oh my god it’s not the end of the world to let me help you” Lio dropped his head back into his hand, struggling to find the energy to fight back. Galo took the book, running his fingers through the pages before landing on the first page. 

He waited for Galo to start reading, but he didn’t, for a moment he just looked at Lio. He turned his head to meet eyes with Galo.

“What?” 

“How late were you out last night?” Lio lifted his head up, straightening his posture.

He brought his legs on the chair, adjusting how he was sitting as he tried to avoid answering. “I don’t have to tell you that” 

“You’re right, you don’t. But if you want to keep going out, you have to come back earlier.” Galo had good intentions, but to Lio, anyone trying to tell him what to do or control him, wasn’t someone he could trust. Lio had to get out of the castle during the day tomorrow, having to figure out a way to get Galo on board with that, meaning he had to play nice. Even keeping that in mind, someone trying to control what he was doing, made his blood boil. His whole life had been like that, even as an eighteen year old, he was being controlled.

“You don’t get it.” Lio growled through his words, his glare was brutal. Galo felt his stomach churn, knowing he should change the subject, he started to read. As he started, Lio soon discovered how ridiculous Galo was. He chose to read each character in a different voice, but it was never the same, he ended up forgetting what each character sounded like, by the tenth page or so, Lio was so unsure who was who. 

“Hey.” Galo stopped reading for a moment. “Yeah?” 

“Tomorrow, I need to get out of the castle, during the day, I need you to ask Kray if you can take me to the village to get something, make up something or whatever, I just need to do something.” Lio had no other way to help Thyma get her dress if they didn’t do it tomorrow, so he needed Galo’s help. In any other situation, If Galo wasn’t his guard, he could just get out himself, but he needed Galo, especially with Kray following his every move. 

“Okay.” Galo looked back down at the book, continuing reading. Lio wasn’t sure why he was on board with it so easily, some part of him just told him to let it go, maybe he’s on your side. The other part of him thought he was going to tell Kray what he saw, and as always, he believed the worst. 

“Why are you-” Lio was stopped by the doors opening, no door in the castle was quiet. Almost as if made to be perfectly on time, Kray walked in. 

“Lio, glad to see you aren’t slacking off.”  _ Kray.  _ Lio rolled his eyes, grabbing one of the books, just to give himself something to do that wasn’t listen to him. His eyes followed Galo as he stood up, walking over to Kray.

“Kray do you think tomorrow I can take the Prince into the village? He wants to get more books, the books he was reading today interested him and it’s better for him to pick them out himself right?” Lio was rather impressed by Galo’s ability to make up a lie in such a short period of time. 

“You can take him out for two hours, from one to three tomorrow, I want to see a full inventory of what you return with.” He instructed, Lio looked back down to his book. It had been months since he was allowed to leave the castle during the day, always having to sneak out at night. 

Galo returned to his seat after thanking Kray, Lio rolling his eyes at the ass-kissing he was performing towards him. After a few minutes, Kray speaking about plans for the dance and Lio spacing out, he left. To him, Kray talking sounded like a muffled sound, when he heard his voice a small switch turned on in his brain and he shut him out. 

“Thanks.” 

“I don’t want you thinking I’m not here to help you, Whatever I can do, I will.” He spoke with a humble smile.  _ God he’s an idiot.  _ Idiot or not, Lio felt himself drawn to his presence. Knowing he wouldn’t respond after that, Galo picked up the book, picking up where he left off. 

An hour or so had passed, Galo suggesting they move to the garden, a nice change in environment. They sat in the garden, Galo walking around the small path, Lio sitting on the bench, once again finding himself holding one of the flowers from a plant in the garden. The vines grew up the walls of the castle, but only on one side, vibrant pink roses growing from some of the strands of vines. Lio would sometimes find himself thinking about climbing those vines, leaving the castle for good. 

Somehow, they had spent the full day together, the sun starting to set, Galo closing the second book, letting out a dry cough, talking all day tiring his voice out, and hearing him talk all day tired Lio out too. 

“Do you want to get some food? Kray told me that the cooks had returned having to begin preparations for the dance within the next few days. So he chose to have them make full meals for the King and Kray and extra food for you as well.” Lio dropped the flower next to where he sat, standing up.

“Of course he did, just perfect, of course he did.” Lio mumbled, turning towards the door, Galo following behind. Lio turned behind as he saw Galo picking up the flower.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Galo let out an awkward laugh, unsure how to respond. “I dunno, it seemed fun to leave you a flower when you weren’t in your room.” 

“I’m allergic.”  _ He wasn’t.  _ Lio thought it was strange, but part of him enjoyed it thinking it was cute. But when he thought that, his brain just repeated what his mother said. 

_ ‘You’re a prince, you can enjoy ‘cute’ things when you act mature enough to be who you are.’ No matter what he did he was always told never to enjoy things until she was pleased with who she was. She died being disappointed in him, so he was left with the question: was it okay for him to enjoy things? Or would he be upsetting his mother from beyond the grave. _

“You can’t be allergic to flowers and spend time in gardens all the time.” He was right, and Lio knew that. He chose not to respond, walking off, Galo pocketing the flower. 

They got to the dining room, a plate already at the head chair, Lio letting out a breath, walking back to the kitchen, Galo standing at the table, not following him. He returned with a second plate of food, putting it at the place next to his. 

“I thought it would be obvious to give you food too but I guess not- guess Kray didn’t wanna make them make more, but they did either way.” Lio sat down at his chair, gesturing to the spot next to him for Galo to sit. He hesitated for a moment but joined Lio. 

“Uh- Thanks.” 

Some of the things Lio did caught Galo off guard. When Remi had told him about how Lio acted and who he was, he didn’t expect what he was told to be so- incorrect. Lio cared for people around him, just not the people who took advantage of the life they lived. He took note of who needed help and who needed to be put in their place. He only gave people a chance when he was ready, not letting people walk over him. 

“Tomorrow, just go to the library.” Lio spoke through bites, not seeming to give Galo other options. 

“I’ll meet you there when I’m finished with what I have to do.” He did nothing but nod, doing what he could to appease him. They said nothing else throughout the meal. It was getting late, Lio returning to his room, Galo stationing himself outside his door for the night. Lio sat on his bed, not planning to fall asleep once more tonight, but he ended up passing out, Waking up a few hours later. Feeling the exact same he did before, exhausted, nevertheless, he managed to get outside again. 

Moments after Lio left the walls of the castle, Galo walked into his room, striking the time his patrol was up for the night. He grabbed the flower from his pocket, putting it on the pillow that still seemed to have an indent of where his head was from before he left. Galo walked out of the room, shutting it, walking back to his quarters. Remi was sitting at the table, a bottle of liquor next to him on the table.

“Hey Galo, how’s the prince?” Galo smiled, catching himself as his face nearly turned red.

“Better than what you described, He’s a genuinely really interesting person to be around. I really enjoy his presence, although he always seems to catch an attitude, when it counts, he really cares.” Before he knew it, he was neck deep in a ramble about Lio and how the last two days had been.

“Galo, a simple good would suffice.” Remi set down his glass, ice clinking at the bottom as he finished the drink.

“Yeah, you’re right my bad, sorry.” He let out an awkward laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “Tomorrow he and I are going out to the village, that’ll be fun.” Galo tried to change the subject, only getting a simple nod from him as Remi walked to his bed. 

“Alright, well goodnight.”  _ Silence _ , some part of him cringed at being ignored so blatantly, but he knew it was just something he had to adjust to in a new place. He sat down on his bed, pulling his bag out from under the bunk, a small note in his hand. 

_ Good luck on your new job. Your parents would be very proud of you for working to be as strong as you can and live past what happened to them, one day, you will be able to be just as strong as your father.  _

Galo smiled, putting the note back in his bag, knowing if he got close to Kray, he could find out more about his parents. When he got the job offer he knew Kray worked here, he had never met him before, rarely heard anything about him except for the fact that his parents used to know him. 

That was enough for him to want to be around him as much as possible, the ball in eight days might give him a chance to talk to him one on one. Galo counted on that, as much as he loved protecting people, he never knew much about his parents. Kray could give him the chance to learn about them and who they were before they died. Galo put his head down on his pillow, his hair falling on his face as he drifted to sleep, not worrying about Lio, trusting him to come back before morning. 

Galo stood outside Lio’s door in the morning, waiting for him to come out of his room. He opened the door, wearing an outfit like he normally wore, but immediately, Galo noticed a few changes. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail, his bangs tucked to the side, two pieces of his hair left out of the ponytail, framing his face. He also had a small bag, a satchel of sorts that he clutched close to his person.

“What are you staring at?” Galo snapped out of his small gaze that had locked onto Lio, adjusting his posture and letting out a small laugh.

“Nothing! Sorry.” He smiled, Lio rolling his eyes and walking past him, out of Galo’s sight, Lio’s face had a bit of color to it, more than just his concerningly pale complexion, a sprinkle of pink residing on his cheeks. 

Something about Lio today seemed different than other days, he wasn’t as quiet as normal, he had something to look forward to. Seeing this made Galo want to do things to make him happy like this everyday, but he knew if he got in the way, it might ruin his mood. He kept his distance, wishing to be a part of what made him happy, but knowing it would be rare he would get the chance to see his smile due to something he did. 

They managed to get out of the castle at around twelve thirty, taking the time to walk down to the village together. 

“So just, Like I said before, stay at the library, I’ll come there at around two thirty and we can go back. Just, get some books.” Lio opened the satchel as they were walking, pulling out a small handful of money. 

“If you see anything you like in the store you can get it, I don’t really care. Just, trust me when I tell you that I’ll meet you at the bookstore, Let me do this alone.” Galo nodded, keeping their interactions short to his words, always seeming to end it on a bad note if he commented too much. Reaching the entrance of the village, Lio walked him to the bookstore.

“I’ll see you in a bit, have fun.” Galo spoke with a smile, Lio nodding and walking off from Galo’s sight. He turned a corner, jumping as he was greeted by his three friends. 

“Is that Galo? I barely got a good look at his face. Bummer!” Thyma spoke with a smile. Lio looked at her, noticing she was standing on her own. 

“Let’s go in Guiera, I wanna see his face.” Thyma walked off, Lio catching up to her and stopping her. 

“How are you walking? How are you okay?” Thyma shrugged.

“The pain meds and vitamins take away a lot of the pain and all of yesterday I just worked on standing up and stuff! I wanted to get better at moving around again so I could dance at the party. I mean it still hurts but it's manageable.” A smile formed on Lio’s face, he pulled her into a hug. 

“I’m glad they’re working, you look a lot better.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I wanna go see your boyfriend.” Thyma walked closer to the bookstore.

“Thyma, the dress store is the other way.” She turned her head, stars could’ve been found in her eyes as she smiled, walking beside him as they made their way to the shop. They walked in, Thyma’s eyes glancing over every sparkly dress in sight, each dress drew her attention more and more. 

“Good evening I uh-” The man paused as he saw Lio standing at the door.

“Your majesty.” Lio let out a breath. 

“Yeah uh hi? My friend wants to get a dress for the ball coming up, if there’s any way we can just do that and get it ready within a week or so.” 

“Of course, I can do that, What was she looking for?” Lio gestured to her standing next to him.

“She can tell you herself.” The man nodded, seemingly annoyed that he didn’t have the chance to talk to Lio more. Thyma began talking to him, the man taking notes, looking around the small boutique. 

“So we are just moral support?” Meis said, plopping himself on one of the chairs, his lanky legs spreading across the floor. Lio remained standing, holding his bag close to him. Guiera sat next to Meis, resting his head on Meis’ shoulder, both of them were already bored of being here, wanting to shop for themselves. After a few minutes, it seemed like Guiera had fallen asleep, Lio woke them up, shooing them off to go look at the tuxes to keep them occupied. They practically scurried up like eager school boys into the other side of the shop. 

Thyma returned, the man carrying large dresses that, in his hands, looked like just balls of fabric, putting them in a room, helping her into the room and closing the curtain. 

“Where are the other two gentlemen who were with you earlier?” Lio pointed down the store, the two were holding up bowties, imitating speeches and people talking in regal manors. The owner of the shop walked down to them, they immediately put down the ties and smiled, walking back to where Lio was.

A few minutes passed and Thyma was still in the dressing room.

“Hey Thyma are you okay?” 

“Yeah Meis, I’m fine, it’s just taking a minute.” She took another moment before the curtain rustled, She walked out wearing a pink dress.

“Wow.” Lio breathed out. “Hey stay loyal to your boyfriend, don’t fall in love with me.” Lio let it slide, seeing how happy she was in this moment. The dress she was wearing was a beautiful pink dress, flowers sewn of lace scattered across the bodice of the dress. Her hair complimenting the dress beautifully. 

“What do you think of it Thyma?” She looked in the mirror, spinning around, a large petticoat under the dress caused it to flow around her more. 

“I love it, but I wanna look more, I don’t want to choose immediately.” Lio stood up.

“While you’re changing out of it can I look for a few dresses?” She nodded, walking back into the dressing room. Lio walked up the stairs to where most of the dresses were, walking around the boutique of dresses for a while before he landed his eyes on one that he knew she would love.

“Just like a princess.” He whispered quietly, remembering what Thyma had told him one night a few months ago.

_ “Lio, you’re a prince, do you ever see princesses? Are they in big pretty dresses and gowns? I remember when I was younger Guiera always read me a story called Cinderella, about a princess with glass slippers and a beautiful blue gown. If I was a princess, I would wear that. I always loved that story.”  _

The dress he held in his hands was a large blue ball gown, snowflakes hand sewn from lace covering the bodice, slowly fading into the skirt. Lio walked down the stairs, almost tripping over the skirt as he brought it to her.

“Hey Thyma, I have a dress for you.” Guiera looked over to him, noticing the color, part of him noticed what he was doing. She grabbed the dress, he could hear an audible gasp from her when she saw it. 

“Lio you’re crazy.” Meis spoke out, waiting for Thyma to walk out. Lio’s head turned to the clock as a bell resounded, It was 2:00. He had thirty minutes, He wasn’t sure how they had already spent this much time but, they managed. Thyma walked out of the dressing room a few minutes later, her face scrunched and her eyes glossy with tears.

“Hey T, What's wrong?” Guiera asked her, she sniffled, wiping her nose on her hand, avoiding using the sleeve.

“This is a princess’s dress, I look like a princess.” Tears rolled down her cheek as she looked at herself in the mirror. 

“Is this the dress?” Lio questioned.

“Are you saying yes to the dress?” Meis made a comment that seemed somewhat familiar (to the writer, but the writer didn’t want to connect the dots), disregarding it. She nodded, pulling Lio into a hug, thanking him as her head was laying on his shoulder. 

“You’ve been out for awhile T, maybe we should get the dress, measurements and stuff and get you home.” She picked up her head and nodded. He turned to the clock, it was 2:25, he was cutting it close, it was a five minute walk to the bookstore, he had to get going now.

“Guiera, take the money, tell him that I told him that it needs to be done soon, I’ll bring more money if needed, but I have to go.” Guiera nodded, taking the money. Lio said goodbye to Meis, hugging Thyma once more. As he had his hand on the door, he looked up and saw the spiky haired guard standing there.

“I was waiting for you to notice him standing there, god that took you awhile.” Thyma joked, her nose still stuffy from crying. She picked up her skirt, playfully curtsying to Galo. 

“Galo I told you to wait at the bookstore.”

“I couldn’t, some of the guards that work under Kray showed up, Unless you wanted this whole thing to be done. I had to get out of there. I assumed you were around here, you brought money and you put their names down when we were with Kray.” Lio let out a breath.

“I didn’t think  _ you’d  _ be able to figure it out.” Thyma’s mouth dropped at Lio’s comment, hitting his arm. 

“Don’t be rude!” She scolded him, waving to Galo and eyeing Lio who was holding his hands up in defense.

“We should get going Galo.” He said, not wanting to introduce him to the three, hoping he’d let it slide.

“Am I just going to remain a stranger to these three then? I mean I’ll see them at the party.” He let out an annoyed breath, looking at Galo who genuinely seemed pure of intention, just wanting to meet them.

“Guiera, Thyma, Meis, This is Galo.” Meis nodded.

“Oh we know.” Lio stared him down, his face going red.

“Oh you talk about me?” Lio refused to make eye contact with Galo within this moment, pointing to the door. 

“Let’s go. We are gonna be fucked if we don’t get back to the castle by three.” Galo nodded, walking behind him, waving to the three before letting the door close.

“That was embarrassing.” Lio mumbled, walking as he swore under his breath.

“Those are your friends right? Thyma’s the sick one?” 

“How did you know she was sick?” His question seemed more like a demand of knowing where he found it out.

“The missing medicine and bandages in medbay were reported that night, and she had bandages all up and down her arms-”

“- Look I may not be that smart, but I can pick up things like that, don’t take me for an idiot, alright? But, it looked like whatever you’ve been doing to help her helped, that’s good, right?” Galo tried to open a conversation with him, seeming to do the one thing that always happened when he tried, it pissed Lio off. 

“It’s not your place to know. But no, she’s not doing good, this is the best she has looked in the entirety of the time I’ve known her. You just met her, don’t assume anything.” Lio walked off, putting space in between them.

“Smooth sailing Thymos. Nice job, pissed him off.  _ Again. _ ” 


	4. The Flower Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio has to attempt to ride a horse after five years of not touching one for the reason of Kray telling Galo it was his father's wishes, Lio wouldn't go against that, no matter how much it scared him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meow hi asf I am so unmotivated but brrr hands you a short chapter.. I have the entire ending planned but forgot to plan the stuff between that and where I am so lol oops :D Spain with no s bruuh

They spent the morning together in the garden, Galo once again retrieving a flower and storing it in his pocket. The next task was one Lio was avoiding, but he knew Galo wouldn’t let it slide. They went back to his room so he could change and then they would have to complete the task. Lio was less than pleased about the idea of doing it, but he made a promise to Galo, no matter how much he wanted to back out he didn’t break promises. 

“It’s not that bad! You’ll be fine!” He spoke to Lio through the door, Like always, what Galo said somehow found a way to annoy Lio.

“Of course you would say that-” Lio opened the door, glaring at Galo, he wasn’t angry at  _ him,  _ but he was the only one there and he was the one who had to accompany him to do it. “-Whatever, I’m making you do it too, you don’t have a choice.” To Lio, saying that seemed like a threat, but it didn’t bother Galo. 

They reached the outside of the castle doors, the walls still trapping them in the grounds. Galo noticed Lio taking the long way to where they needed to be, he complained a lot but when it came to following through with things he didn’t enjoy, he would find a way to take as long as possible to complete it. They reached the stables, Lio looking at the clock, it was nearly two now. 

“How long do we have to be out here?” Lio spoke without looking anywhere but at the stable, his eyes burning with a passion, love or hate Galo couldn’t tell. Even so, he had a strong feeling it was hate, Lio’s hands were clenched into fists, his eyebrows arched and his mouth formed a small frown. The more he looked at Lio, the more it seemed like  _ fear.  _

“Until five, then you have to shower and go to get your haircut to prepare for one of the kingdoms princesses arriving tomorrow.” Lio nodded, letting out a breath, pulling his short hair back into a low ponytail, two pieces hung to the sides of his face. He was already annoyed, Galo knew he had to be careful with what he said around him today. 

There were six horses in the stables, Lio’s name plastered on one of the doors, Galo could tell Lio wrote that when he was younger. Due to the state of the name plate, it seemed he hadn’t come here in a few years. Lio looked up at the horse, it's dark eyes stared at him, sending shivers down his spine. Seeing the horse, reminded him of the last time he had rode a horse. 

  
  


“Which horse should I partner with?” Galo questioned, brushing through the mane of a horse with a beautiful brown mane. 

“Whichever you want, it doesn’t matter, they’re all trained.” Galo nodded, picking up the saddle, equipping it to the horse and buckling the saddle under its chest. 

“Do you need help with your saddle?” Galo walked over as he saw Lio struggling to get the saddle over the horse, or he was trying to struggle so he could waste more time. Lio put the saddle down and let out a breath in annoyance. 

“Is there a way we can just not do this.” Lio tried to hide the emotion in his voice but the quiver in his voice proved otherwise. Galo shook his head, explaining to him once again the deal they made and that he didn’t want to lie to Kray. Lio shook it off, convincing himself he didn’t have something to get worked up over, what had happened was in the past. 

“Alright there you go.” Galo walked over to his horse, grabbing the reins and leading it out of its individual pen, Lio doing the same. They reached the outside of the stable, entering a large fenced off area. Galo slipped his foot in the stirrup and mounted the horse, adjusting his posture before looking over at Lio who was staring blankly at the reins in his hands. 

“If you want the horse to respond better, take off your gloves, it might help the horse be more present, it’s not a competitive horse so it probably isn’t adjusted to being touched with gloves.” Lio didn’t respond but he took off his gloves, putting them in his pocket. He looked at the horse, putting his hand on her neck for a moment, petting her before deciding to bite the bullet. He carefully put his foot in the stirrup, kicking his other leg over, holding tight onto the reins. 

“Nice job!” Galo spoke with a genuine smile, he was too nice to be around Lio who, most of the time, didn’t enjoy the company of positive people. Lio chose not to respond, staying in the same spot on the horse, adjusting to the feeling of being on a horse again, it had been five years since he rode a horse, the last time was when he was fourteen. 

“Why did Kray give this as the only task for the day? Did he say? I haven’t had to ride a horse for years, ever since my mom stopped forcing me to.” Galo shrugged.

“Each day he always just says it’s your father's wishes, I didn’t choose to question him beyond that.” He nodded, looking down at the horse before clicking his heel, the horse slowly began walking, his heart began racing. 

“So for the dance, what do you plan to wear?” Galo questioned, trying to fill the silence with questions, and for once, Lio responded to his questions.

“I was planning to wear a white tux to compliment what Thyma chose.” Before Galo could respond, Lio continued. “Thyma was the girl from yesterday, I don’t know if you remember.” Galo could sense Lio’s anxiety, he spoke over himself, Galo didn’t remind him about the fight that occurred after he met them, just nodding. 

“While you were with them, I picked out some new books, I don’t know if you’ll like them but they will be an interesting read for whenever we have to spend time in the library again.” Lio looked over at him, the tight grip on the reins loosening, hearing Galo talk took his mind off of what they were doing. 

“I got a book about combining like twenty fairytails together, it seemed kinda childish but still it seemed interesting, I hadn’t heard something like that before.” Lio felt himself finding comfort in hearing Galo talk about this, but he soon came to realize it was just hearing him speak that brought him comfort. Galo had no clue why Lio was so rude to him most of the time or so short tempered but he never stopped caring for him- If that was what it could be called, was this actually what Galo wanted to do or was this just a job for him. 

“I don’t really recall what the other books were, but they are best sellers or at least recommended by the owner of the shop.” Galo said with a grin, scratching the back of his neck.

“They probably just recommended you the most expensive ones so they can make more revenue, they could probably tell you had a lot of money to spend.” Galo laughed and nodded as Lio finished talking.

“Probably! I’m really bad at handling money. I hate having a lot of money, I never know what to do with it.” 

“I’m the opposite, I always know how to handle my money, I rarely get money or a chance to control what to spend it on, so when I do, I know what to use it towards.” 

“Most times it’s for Thyma, Guiera and Meis isn’t it?” 

“Yeah. I don’t need anything, They have nothing, they don’t deserve the rough life they are living but I can’t do more than I am, no matter how much I wish I could.” At this point, Lio and Galo were in close proximity, as close as they could be while being on horses, so they were able to talk at a normal volume. 

Twenty minutes or so passed of conversation, the longest period of time Galo was able to keep up with Lio without angering him, but in all honesty, Lio lowered his guard, worrying too much about being on the horse than icing Galo out. Galo sped up a bit, trying to get a bit more comfortable on the horse with riding, considering leaving the fenced off area. Lio let the horse walk a bit faster, not interested in gaining much ground, just interested in getting off as soon as possible. Lio struggled being on the horse, the saddle uncomfortable and his feet barely reached the stirrups, keeping his feet in them by flexing his foot up and hoping nothing would happen that would require him to be secure. 

As if almost on cue to his thoughts, a small animal appeared on the fence, startling the horse, causing it to kick up, Lio’s lose grip on the reins causing him to lose full grip and his feet easily falling out, within seconds he hit the ground. 

“Lio!” The voice, this feeling, the place, everything, it all felt so familiar, exactly like the last time he had ridden a horse. 

_ “Lio!” He was just kicked off his horse, landing back on his leg, collapsing in pain, his mother walked over to him.  _

_ “Are you an idiot? You are so irresponsible. Get up, you are fine.” Tears were rolling down his cheek as he tried to sit up, any pressure applied to his leg seemed to put him in more pain. _

_ “Stop being so dramatic. Get up.” Lio’s father just arrived in time to see him wipe out, managing to make his way over to him, offering his hand out to Lio. _

_ “Get up son, Are you okay?” Lio looked up, wiping his eyes, taking his father's hand, his mother visibly annoyed. _

_ “Don’t baby him, he is almost fifteen he doesn’t need to hold daddy’s hand when he gets a boo-boo” She mocked Lio, annoyed that he had gotten hurt.  _

_ “Maybe if you trained more you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.” His mother scolded him, glaring at his father as they walked to the castle. His father brought him to medbay, having to be brought to the side by Kray, left in the room with his mother.  _

_ “You should’ve spent more time with her, She would’ve been better at keeping calm if she was more used to you, but no, you refuse and you always want to leave the castle. That’s not how this works, you do what  _ I  _ tell you to do, you don’t do what you want, this isn’t your life, you are a prince, not some commoner.” He kept silent, choosing not to bump heads with his mother.  _

_ A few hours passed, his mother returning as his foot was wrapped in a small cast.  _

_ “What did you do.” His mother showed no empathy, a straight face as she saw him in the bed.  _

_ “I broke my foot.” Her face twisted, her expression turning sour, she turned out of the room and left, slamming the door, Lio jumping at the sound. His father came in a bit later, sitting next to him.  _

_ “I’m sorry about your mother, I cannot control what she does, but I’ll make sure she will never force you on a horse again, and please do not think this is your fault, it was a snake that startled the horse, you can never train an animal out of their fear.” Lio nodded. It wasn’t his fault what happened and yet as the next week passed, his mother ignored his presence until he came to her and apologized. But the day he broke his foot, her screaming his name, it was always a question, was she concerned or was she angry.  _

“Lio are you okay?” He turned to Galo, noticing his expression wasn’t angry. He had a hand wrapped around Lio’s back, the other on his knee, their faces inches apart,  _ he cared.  _ Lio nodded, his back hurt and his head was pounding but he was okay. 

“I am, thanks.” Galo stood up, offering his hand. Lio hesitated for a moment, reaching out but pulling away as he noticed he didn’t have his gloves on. Nonetheless, Galo grabbed his hand and helped him up. In the few seconds their hands met, he felt the warmth of Galo surrounding his hand, it was comforting. Lio’s hands were always cold,  _ always.  _ No matter what, they were always cold, Galo was the first to not comment on it.

“We can go back to the castle, I’ll make something up, and if Kray ever says you need to do this again, we can do something else, I’d prefer you don’t break your face on the ground, you know?” Galo smiled, and as genuine as possible, Lio smiled back. 

They returned to Lio’s room, Lio letting Galo in for a moment, not thinking anything of it, Galo looked around, seeing a small box open on Lio’s bedside. 

Out of curiosity, he looked inside, the box was open so he saw nothing wrong with it. He was taken back by what he saw, flowers. To be exact, it was the flowers that Galo left him. From each night, Lio had kept each flower Galo left him. 

He was unsure why Lio kept them at all, Galo began to do it just out of interest of why Lio would always look at those flowers, maybe thinking he would tell him. He hadn’t ended up explaining, but it seemed to mean something to Lio, and even though it had only been a few days, it was something Galo enjoyed doing and it seemed, he wasn’t bothered by it, Lio seemed to enjoy it in a way.

Galo stuck his hand in his pocket, grabbing the flower from the garden and putting it on his pillowcase. He walked closer to the door as he saw Lio come back from his closet, wearing a new outfit. He turned to his bed and saw the flower, turning back to Galo and shaking his head. 

After a few minutes of walking, Lio was the one to break the silence. 

“Why do you keep doing that.” Lio didn’t know Galo had seen the box, so he continued to act as if he didn’t care about the flowers.

“Why don’t you throw them away?” Galo smiled, turning around, walking backwards to face him, Lio paused for a moment, stuttering over an excuse before choosing to not respond. A playful chuckle came from Galo as they walked into the library. 

Galo was glad to know that his small gesture was reaching Lio, it seemed to be something they shared. But it could be something he was overthinking. For the rest of the time they had within the day before Lio had to prepare for tomorrow, they chose not to read, but talk, Galo was the one talking most but Lio listened, something about the day changed their relationship. 

Galo was unsure of what it was, but Lio knew exactly what it was. Galo’s small gesture of making sure he was okay, proved to Lio that he cared, something inside him told him it was okay to trust Galo because it wasn’t just a job. His mother didn’t even ask if he was okay, Galo didn’t hesitate. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys it's currently the new year now i haven't updated this story in a long while but i'm gonna try to really soon i've been exhausted recently and school sucks and i've had a lot of struggles with stuff but i'll probably be writing banana fish stories soon because it's one of my biggest interests along with evangelion and darling in the franxx but i'll be making a twitter soon to post updates and stuff i think if anyone's interested B)

**Author's Note:**

> pogchamp... rubs my grubby little hands together, this'll be good..  
> hi.. i am still working on being a cool ao3 writer but poggers for now!  
> i'll literally just update whenever i write the next chapter probably so yeah B)


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